John Oliver Lashes Trump on ‘The Late Show’ for Not Having ‘Sacrificed’

This week, The New York Times is bingeing on late-night comedy shows and curating the best stuff in case you missed it. You need sleep, after all, and something in the news to smile about. We don’t need anything because we’re getting paid to watch late night which is insane.

Oliver + Colbert = Trump TV

John Oliver didn’t think he would be deported, but he’s being cautious.CreditThe Late Show with Stephen Colbert

Few comedians capture the liberal mood as well as John Oliver and Stephen Colbert, who tag-teamed President Trump with biting sarcasm Tuesday night on “The Late Show.”

OLIVER: Until Inauguration Day, you know, nothing was really happening. It was just being tied to a train track, watching the train coming, and then, of course, Inauguration Day is the train hitting you and you’re thinking, “Yup, that felt pretty much how I thought it was going to feel.”

Mr. Colbert warned his British-born friend that he might be deported in a Trump America — “tossed out like tea,” as Mr. Oliver put it — even with his green card. The prospect drew a stinging remark about sacrifice and the president.

OLIVER: We held up translators, Afghan and Iraqi translators, at the border who have bled for a country they’ve never visited, have sacrificed family members for this country. This president has done neither of those things. So it’s a little hard to swallow him telling people whether they should be a benefit to America or not.

They’re Not Just Trump-Bashers

“Community Calendar,” a send-up of public access programming.CreditThe Late Show with Stephen Colbert

Mr. Colbert, a professed man of the people, emphasized his love for local media by bringing on Mr. Oliver as a guest host for “Community Calendar,” a sendup of low-budget public access television. This time the CBS budget allowed Mr. Colbert — who is up in the ratings — to take the show to Bedford, England, the hometown of Mr. Oliver, whose weekly HBO show resumes Sunday.

COLBERT: Let’s get right to the actual events that are happening this month in Bedford. On Feb. 25, the Shuttleworth aviation museum will host a talk on flying their aircraft collection. It’s perfect for anyone who’s ever wondered, “What if the airline announcement went on for a whole hour?”

OLIVER: On Thursday the 16th, the Forest Center will host Badgers in a Box. A craft session for kids to create a badger’s home in a shoe box. Just imagine your parents’ surprise when they find out they’ve lost a pair of shoes but they’ve gained an angry badger.

[Editors’ note: We here at the Times Late-Night Comedy Committee are nightmarishly afraid of badgers.]

Stephen Colbert’s “Late Show” monologue.CreditThe Late Show with Stephen Colbert

“Yes! President Obama killing it! And for once no drones involved!” — TREVOR NOAH, of “The Daily Show,” on former President Barack Obama on a beach vacation

“That is a smile of a man who had no idea he might not be allowed back in the country.” — JIMMY KIMMEL, host of “Jimmy Kimmel Live!,” on Mr. Obama

The Punchiest Punchlines (Bathrobe Edition)

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Trevor Noah on “The Daily Show.”CreditComedy Central

“It sounds like he’s haunting his own White House.” — NOAH, discussing aTimes report about Mr. Trump wearing a bathrobe while walking around his White House residence

“Meanwhile, everyone in America is like, ‘Stop making us picture Donald Trump in a bathrobe!’” — JIMMY FALLON of “The Tonight Show”

“Saying Trump definitely doesn’t wear a bathrobe can only mean one thing: Sean Spicer has definitely seen Donald Trump naked. Now we know why he’s so angry all the time.” — COLBERT, before showing three photos of Mr. Trump wearing bathrobes over the years

The DeVos Pile-On

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Betsy DeVos at a confirmation hearing last month.CreditYuri Gripas/Reuters

“Today the Senate confirmed education secretary and woman-ahead-of-you-at-Starbucks-with-a-really-complicated-order Betsy DeVos. Now, there are 100 senators. She got the votes of only half of them. So her first act is to make 50 act as a passing grade.” — COLBERT

“Actually it was a 50-50 tie vote that was broken by the vice president, which makes the vote for education secretary the only place where a 51 is a passing grade.” — FALLON

Will Arnett walked barefoot over a bed of Lego bricks on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!”CreditJimmy Kimmel Live!

The Conversation

Anderson Cooper on "Late Night" with Seth Meyers.CreditVideo by Late Night with Seth Meyers

Anderson Cooper spilled the tea to Seth Meyers of “Late Night” about Mr. Trump’s relationship with CNN, which the president attacks constantly.

COOPER: He watches CNN all the time.

MEYERS: Yeah.

COOPER: I mean, this is not in dispute at all, and because I — he has texted about people I’m interviewing while I’m interviewing them.

MEYERS: Yeah.

COOPER: He would do that during the campaign. And then, there’s, you know, and it’s on in his office. Certainly, Trump Tower, it was on a lot, and I know — yeah, he watches. He watches more cable news than — he watches me on CNN probably more than my mom watches me on CNN.

What We’re Excited About on Wednesday Night

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Kellyanne Conway in an interview with Jake Tapper on CNN.CreditCNN

The CNN anchor Jake Tapper will sit down with Mr. Colbert, a day after a very aggressive interview with Kellyanne Conway, a senior adviser to Mr. Trump. CNN and Ms. Conway have exchanged barbs over whether the network rejected her as a guest on its Sunday show, “State of the Union.”